When and Where: The next meeting of the HOCP will be on August 18 (Thursday) and August 19 (Friday). It will be held at Voyageurs National Park near International Falls, Minnesota.
Food and Lodging: Participants are responsible for arranging their own food and lodging (except for the organized Thursday evening meal). Area accommodations can be found on pages 14 & 15 at this link. The document takes about a minute to load.
Also, there are six tent campsites at the International Falls City Beach – $10/night. To make reservations for these sites call Kathleen at 218-283-6612.
Indoors and Out: Activities will be indoors and outdoors so bring appropriate outerwear.
On-site phone contact: For emergency contact, call the park during the day at 218-283-6600 or in the evening Kathleen’s phone at 218-324-1716.
Cost: All activities are free or freewill donation. Meals and lodging expenses need to be covered by participants.
RSVP: We’ll need to know how many are coming in order to plan logistics. Please click here to RSVP.
After the Meeting: Participants are encouraged to further explore the Voyageurs National Park area. Park activities are posted at www.nps.gov/voya. Boise paper mill tours are offered Monday-Friday at 8:30 am 11:00am and 1:00pm.
Agenda
Thursday, August 18, 2011 – Explore the Heart of the Continent
1:00- 4:00pm & 2:30-5:30pm – Oberholtzer Island visit – (each tour limited to 10 people); freewill donation
Tour the island and buildings that Ernest Oberholtzer (1884-1977) called home for more than 50 years. He turned “tiny Mallard Island into a place of magic, charm, and brilliance.” “Oberholtzer was a wilderness preservationist, explorer, photographer, student of Ojibwe legend and oral tradition, authority on the Minnesota-Ontario boundary lakes region, original architect of the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness and Voyageurs National Park, lifetime President of the Quetico-Superior Council, and one of eight founders of the Wilderness Society.” (quoted material from Oberholtzer Foundation website)
1:00 & 4:15 – Ethnobotanical Gardens Tour – Voyageurs National Park, Rainy Lake Visitor Center (free)
Join Naturalist Lisa Maass, for a guided tour of the park’s new ethnobotanical garden that is being developed near the visitor center.
5:30-6:30pm – group dinner at Sha Sha Resort near the Rainy Lake Visitor Center (each pay for own meal; select meal choice in advance) – outdoor dining planned, bring a light jacket
7:00-8:30pm Sunset Discovery Cruise – Voyageurs National Park, Rainy Lake Visitor Center (open to 49 people; free)
See for yourself the significance of the park – outstanding scenery, geologic conditions, and historic route of the Voyageurs – during this evening cruise through the park, which is in the Heart of the Continent. The boat has an enclosed lower cabin and an upper viewing deck. The boat is accessible and has a bathroom on board.
Friday, August 19, 2011 – Heart of the Continent Partnership (HOCP) General Meeting
Location: Voyageurs National Park Headquarters, 360 Highway 11 East, Int’l Falls, MN
- 8:30am – Welcome, introductions
- 9:00-10:00am – Update on Moose Projects in Northeastern Minnesota and Quetico Provincial Park by Ron Moen, Ph.D., Research Associate, Natural Resources Research Institute, University of Minnesota Duluth
- 10:00-10:30am – Heart of the Continent Science Committee update
- 10:30-10:45am – break
- 10:45-11:00am – HOCP International Community Congress Update
- 11:00-11:45am – Share Time
- 11:45am-12:00pm – HOCP 2012 – next meeting, post-International Community Congress
- 12:00-12:30pm – new park headquarters building tour
- Lunch on own